


Winter Ghosts

by lyonessheart



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A little angst, Established Relationship, Family, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 01:26:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13089531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyonessheart/pseuds/lyonessheart
Summary: Some ghosts appear amid snow and ice





	Winter Ghosts

“Uncle Harry!” Insistent fingers tugged at the duvet, and Harry blearily opened his eyes.

“Yes Teddy?” He whispered, knowing that Draco did not appreciate being woken before sunrise.

“It is snowing! Everything is white outside, I wanna play!” Teddy bounced on his toes.

“Later, I promise. For now go back to sleep.” Harry looked at the clock next to the bed. “Five in the morning is too early to go outside.”

Teddy grumbled but knew that whining would not get him anywhere. Even if he got Uncle Harry to get up, he would insist on breakfast first. And then the snow surely would be gone.  
So he trudged back to bed, clutching the stuffed fox that Grandma had given him for his 5th birthday, never forgetting that Harry had promised to play with him outside later.

Much later over breakfast, Harry tried to introduce the idea to Draco who sipped his coffee.

“We’ll all go outside and play in the snow,” Harry grinned, wholly unprepared for Draco’s reply.

“No.” Simple as that. Teddy looked at his cousin. Draco frowned and turned back to the newspaper.

“But Teddy wants to play outside.” Harry sounded baffled, as if it had never occurred to him not to indulge Teddy’s reasonable wishes. .

“I don’t care.” Draco turned to Harry. “I will not go outside and freeze, it is not my fault that there is no snow in the city. Such days are better spend on the couch.”  
“Fine, then you get the couch ready, since you’ll be sleeping on it.” Harry dead-panned, but he had not counted on Draco’s reaction.

“Fine by me.” Draco stood from the table and left the kitchen.

“Well, what do you say Teddy, we’ll play outside in the snow?” Harry tried to be light-hearted but there was a frown on his face. Surely Draco would not really prefer to sleep on the couch instead of giving in?

But when he came across the living room, the big couch had been transformed into a bed with mounds of pillows and books stacked high on the couch table. The fire burned in the fireplace and Draco was snuggled into a blanket buried deep within a book.

“Are you sure, you’d rather stay here, instead of coming outside with us?” Harry tried one last time, only to receive a glare.

“You made yourself clear and I think I made myself as clear.” Draco turned away from the two of them, Harry stepped outside his heart heavy. That had not gone as planned, but for now he had an excited five year old to occupy. 

***

Teddy and Harry played outside for a long time, until their clothes were soaked through and the best warming charms couldn’t keep their noses from turning red. 

“I think, we need to head back inside. What do you say Teddy?” Harry picked him up and swung him about.

“I would like some hot chocolate.” Teddy grinned. “Uncle Harry, why does Cousin Draco dislike snow so much?” 

Harry opened his mouth but found he didn’t have an answer, it had never come up, and the last two winters Draco had not even been in the country, instead fleeing to warmer places. It was only because of Harry’s job that he had stayed in England this year.

“I have no idea, maybe he just doesn’t like being wet.”

“Do you think he’ll share the sofa with us?” 

Harry flinched, Draco would probably allow Teddy on the sofa, but for himself he did not hold high hopes. “We have to ask him, Teddy.” 

“Ok.” Teddy pulled him towards the house, chattering excitedly about the sleigh rides and the snowman they had build together.

He continued to chatter until they were back in the house, where he traipsed into the living room.

“Cousin Draco.” He called and Draco’s voice answered softly: “Hi Teddy, did you have fun outside?” 

Harry released a breath he hadn’t been aware he had been holding. Making his way into the kitchen he asked the house elves for hot chocolate with marshmallows, hoping to soften Draco’s ire towards him. When he stepped into the living room, the sight that greeted him, warmed his insides. Draco had pulled Teddy close to him and read him a story. Gently placing the steaming mugs in front of the two of them and settling into the armchair, with the soft grey throw, Harry stretched his legs out.

He knew not to push his boyfriend, and Draco did not give an indication of being willing to talk to him. Trying to blackmail Draco into going out had backfired thoroughly, but now Harry was intrigued why he was so averse to being outside.

***

There were few things that Draco drew the line at, but Harry had learned the hard way that some things were non-negotiable. He had tried to argue that being in a relationship and having a small boy to care for every other weekend would require them to do things they were not particularly fond of. But Draco had been adamant that he would not allow his world to revolve around all of his cousin’s demands and wishes, or as he once said live life “New Ron Weasley Style” 

If Harry insisted on indulging Teddy constantly, he would simply be absent.  
It had been one of their first big rows, because the child in Harry had wanted to spoil the little boy rotten at every chance that he got. But Draco had reminded him that children needed guidance and love more than money and possessions, and that he himself had had everything materially that he needed. There had been a haunted look in Draco’s eyes, and Harry had given in. So while Teddy knew without a doubt that he was loved deeply by both of them, he also knew the meaning of the word no, as rarely as he heard it from both of them. 

For Draco to simply refuse to yield, something must bother him about the cold, and was it bad that he refused to be outside? 

Teddy had fallen asleep next to Draco, tired out by the day in the snow and Harry looked at his lover. The tender look that Draco bestowed on the little boy that had curled up next to him, warmed Harry’s heart.

“I am sorry.” The words were out, before he could think about them. “I didn’t want to blackmail you into going outside with us. I just think you are missing out on a lot of fun. Not just for Teddy, for us.”

“So that means I don’t have to sleep on the sofa tonight? Because I will.”

“No, but I want to understand.” Harry was asking honestly

“Do you know that when you spend too much time outside in the cold, your tissue first turns pale and feels like pins and needles, then red with blisters and then you lose all feeling, while the tissues freezes?” Draco said it almost clinically detached. “The advantage of being a wizard is that you can regrow such tissues again and again.”

Harry felt sick as he looked at Draco’s fingers and nose. “Oh no Draco.”

“When Voldemort stayed in our Manor, he took delight in making me stay outside in the cold until my fingers were turning blue, my nose and ears as well. I never much liked the cold before that, but I could see the fun you all had. I remember when you threw snow at my head once, when we were in Hogsmeade. But after the third time he had my mother thaw the frozen tissue, just to hear me scream, HE decided that the next time he would wet my clothes before sending me outside to freeze. I thought I would die that Christmas. So forgive me if I never want to spend another minute that I don’t absolutely have to outside in the cold.”

Harry forgot caution and sat down next to his boyfriend pulling him close. “I wish you had told me beforehand. Damn it Draco, I never would have pushed this. You know I only threaten the sofa in jest, I would miss you way too much in our bed.”

Draco snuggled closer to Harry’s heat. “Not all of us are furnaces like you. And sharing my ghosts with you is not always easy. I want Teddy to have fun, but just the idea of stepping outside, makes me clam up. I’d rather stay here by the fire and read, while you tire him out, and then cuddle up with both of you and hot chocolate. Do you think we can do this?”

“All I want is for you to be happy. So of course we can.”

“ Enough talk about winter ghosts. Get under the blanket with us.”

Harry complied and as he drifted off to sleep, holding Draco close, hoped that the ghosts of winter were held at bay for the time being.

Next year he would make sure to book a holiday somewhere warm. Teddy would enjoy the beach as much as ice and snow he was sure of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you my darling Cat for reading this through. I wrote this after reading yet another fic, wherein Draco just needed to be blackmailed by Harry to be outside and of course have fun in the snow, because I feel that Draco would have a good reason to dislike snow. So I just wanted to get that out of my system. Comments are still love


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